Hydrocarbon fuels are the most commonly used as energy sources. Each molecule of those fuels contains hydrogen and carbon as the major components. Other elements or molecules in those fuels depend of the fuel type—from simplest methane or propane gases to more complicated molecules of crude oil.
Fossil fuels developed over geological time represent the world's energy capital. Many renewable forms of energy-those derived from wind, solar or marine (tidal, wave) sources, must be used as they are produced; otherwise they are wasted. Other renewable energy may have some energy storage potential such as: hydro energy is contained in potential energy of stored water in lakes or rivers and geothermal energy is retained underground until required.
Decarbonization of economies is occurring as the shift is progressively made from using coal to using oil and, most recently, to natural gas, i.e. to hydrocarbons containing less carbon. This shift follows technology progress on energy efficiency and lower scale polluting solutions in rising demand for energy. Hydrocarbons are predominantly used in thermodynamic conversion of energy.
Hydrogen as a component of hydrocarbon fuel is a major carrier and source of energy. It has universal usage as the source such as thermodynamic in combustion, electric conversion in fuel cells, nuclear in fission and lately developing possibility for fusion experiments.
The use of hydrogen as a fuel has many advantages in front of other solutions. Hydrogen is the most efficient when it comes to conversion to useful energy forms such as thermal; mechanical and electrical. Hydrogen is some 39% more efficient than fossil fuels, without the pollution. It can be considered as the most effective energy storage in any scale. When fire hazards and toxicity are taken in to account, hydrogen is the safest due to highest buoyancy—evaporation of all gases and being base of most of biological matter.
In the present and future sources of hydrogen,    hydrocarbons decomposition will play a major role as the commonly accepted source and storage of H2 hydrogen and other synthetic carbon-free gases. Major consumption of hydrogen so far has been in the petroleum industry for the refining and upgrading of crude petroleum and in chemical industry for the manufacture of fertilizers, methanol and a variety of organic chemicals.
Other important uses are in the food industry for the hydrogenation of edible plant oils to fats and in the plastic industry for making various polymers. Applications such as in metal, electronics, glass, electric power and space industry are also present.
There are many obstacles towards wide usage of hydrogen as the universal source of energy which can be classified as institutional, technical, regulatory and financial.
Some of difficulties comprise of barriers associated with the production, distribution and utilization of hydrogen—starting from coal and lower grade fossil fuels with capture and storage of the carbon released as the carbon dioxide, the problems of producing hydrogen efficiently and affordably using clean technology, the requirement for substantial amounts of capital, including risk capital to establish a hydrogen infrastructure; the need to reduce production cost to compete with traditional fuels, need to be adoptable to existing technological solutions, lack of international consistent codes and standards to ensure hydrogen safety and facilitation of its commercialization.
One of the main problems associated with hydrogen production in hydrocarbon conversion process from chemical point of view, is kinetic limitation. Low feasibility narrowing options of process for conventional thermal conversion, with high energy consumption, using special high-priced catalysts to attain reasonably high specific productivity and equivalent equipment size without much scalability rate.
However, in any case, large equipment size and metal capacity characterize this technology. The necessity to heat the catalyst to the high working temperature leads also to the problem of ‘cold start’ restricting mobile applications.
Hydrogen basic physical properties ensure future wide usage as an energy source and carrier of high caloric value. Wide variety of applications can be adapted to hydrogen use as the source or medium of energy.
Hydrogen is very reactive element and does not exist in elementary form in natural environment of the Earth. It always comes in molecular arrangement of clusters. Stability of those clusters depends of stability of all elements included. Hydrogen is bonded with other elements not only as single molecule bond but rather as oscillating clusters of molecules bonded together.
The substantial cooperative strengthening of the hydrogen bond is dependent on long range interactions and strength of each bond in the cluster encourages larger clusters formation for the same average bond density and potential.
In hydrocarbon arrangement carbon release can be achieved by exposing clusters to high temperatures. Unstable hydrogen in a cluster, which bond with carbon has been broken when exposed to high temperatures, will tend to react with predominantly electrically opposite element in its proximity. In a vacuum environment it will form hydrogen molecule cluster H2.
Breaking one bond through exposing hydrocarbon to heat generally weakens those around. If exposed to the oxygen environment, exposed hydrogen will violently react in combining with oxygen through combustion. Exothermic reaction further breaks the hydrogen-carbon bond in hydrocarbon and exposes more hydrogen to run off combustion process.
Different hydrocarbon bonds occur in various lengths and structures and comprise various additional elements as well. More complex hydrocarbon cluster can be broken to as many simple hydrocarbons and other components through exposing to different temperatures.
Plasma can essentially improve situation. Plasma is a high-density source of energy, which can cover process enthalpy and provide optimal temperature range to eliminate kinetic limitations. Hydrocarbon decomposition through plasma discharge demonstrates a high specific productivity of decomposition rate comparing with steam reforming or partial oxidation processes.